


Lost and Found

by Redburn



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise, Angst, Coming of Age, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, New Kid AU, Recreational Drug Use, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-01-20 21:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12442422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redburn/pseuds/Redburn
Summary: Then as if in slow motion, Richie holds up his hand and waves right at him."Uh, Eddie... w-w-why is the new kid waving at you?"It's senior year and Eddie is determined to get through it with ease while also scared about what awaits him on the other side. But then a new kid arrives in town and turns Eddie's life completely upside down, in ways he never would have expected.





	1. New Kid On The Block

**Author's Note:**

> hello all and welcome to my second reddie fic! originally supposed to be a one-shot, the ideas just kept rolling so now it'll be at least a 7 part story! :)
> 
> inspiration drawn from Roughandreddie's amazing [**New!Kid AU**](http://roughandreddie.tumblr.com/post/166333856987/derry-1989-it-had-been-a-week-since-new-kid), so go check them out because their edits are amazing!  
>  (and also from Rory and Jess's story line on Gilmore Girls because I love them sm!!) 
> 
> this story starts at the end of summer, 1993 in Derry :) enjoy the ride!!

Life in Derry, to say the least, was quiet.

Some might say that equals to boring, some would argue that it was untouched paradise. But to most, in the end, all simply agree that it was their town, nothing special, and for one Eddie Kaspbrak that was enough.

“Eddie dear, you’re going to be late for your first day back,” calls Mrs. Kaspbrak from the bottom of the stairs.

“Coming ma!” yells Eddie, before he turns to look at himself in the mirror one last time.

It was their final year of high school and Eddie has already counted up the days until their sweet release into freedom. Eddie thinks if it weren’t for his best friends Bill and Stan high school life may have been a less than average one. He was in the middle of the spectrum – not popular nor an outcast, just someone who would do what was expected of him, no more, no less.

Eddie runs his fingers through his mop of hair again, watching as the almost-curls bounce back into place and wondering if he should cut it.

His clothes, once colourful and daring when he was younger, were now a basic washed-out jeans and button down shirt combo. Eddie found by not drawing attention to himself around town, he could get through life a little bit easier. It was better this way, regardless of moments when he felt as if his heart was made of lead and pumping out ice-cold water.

“Eddie, hurry up!”

With a sigh he picks up his backpack and steps out of his room, down the stairs to where his mother is waiting for him by the front door.

“I can drive you to school, pumpkin. I don’t want to be getting a late call from your teacher,” she says warningly.

“No, ma, I’m fine. I’ll just take the shortcut if I have to,” says Eddie.

She eyes him warily before finally kissing his forehead and handing him his packed lunch. “Okay. Be careful please. And don’t forget to give the school nurse your updated medication list.”

“I know,” says Eddie lowly, pecking his mother’s cheek and leaving the house quickly.

“Don’t be back too late!” calls Mrs. Kaspbrak, and Eddie hears their front door finally click shut.

Eddie scuffs his shoes on the sidewalk and hikes his heavy bag around to sit more comfortably on his shoulders. The morning rush in Derry always happens at 8 o’clock sharp, every day, and so his walks to school were frequently quiet ones. A car or two might drive by, or someone might be walking their dog, but at this time, the streets belonged to Eddie.

He wanders into the middle of the road, knowing full well if his mother were here she’d be screaming profanities up the wazoo. It was one of Eddie’s less than impactful rebellious schemes, but it was his own, and he likes that.

“Oh, _shit!_ ”

That was the only warning Eddie gets before a bike swerves out in front of him and just barely manages to miss a full-frontal collision. Eddie can only step back slightly when it happens, too shocked to react any faster, and watches helplessly as the rider comes to an unskilled stop at the curb and nearly falls right off his bike.

“Jesus,” the guy – a teenager, Eddie observes – exclaims worriedly, and turns to face Eddie. “Dude, why were you in the middle of the road? You got a death wish or something?”

Eddie startles, only mildly registering the edge of bitterness in the boy’s tone, and focuses more on the wild mane of black hair and the worn through leather jacket with a Clash patch on his sleeve. His dark eyes were pinned on Eddie, brows furrowed, and it’s not until an impatient gesture is made that finally Eddie answers him.

“Sorry,” he says, feet still rooted in place. “I didn’t think being the only moving thing on the road would throw you off that much. I’ll be more careful next time.”

The boy gives him an incredulous look and scoffs as he shakes his head shallowly. “What the hell, man.”

Finally Eddie steps over to the boy, taking in every detail he can; from his black converse to the chain dangling from his pocket, the scab’s on his knuckles and the splatter of freckles across his face. He was undoubtedly attractive, which somehow pisses Eddie off for reason’s he can’t quite place.

“Wanna take a picture?” asks the boy as he straightens out his bike.

“I’ve never seen you before,” says Eddie.

“Why Mr. Holmes, I didn’t expect to run into you in _this_ lifetime. And I’m not surprised – you probably inadvertently kill a bunch of people before you get the chance to meet them,” he says, only half-heartedly.

“Funny,” says Eddie before he steps away and begins his walk again to school.

There’s a brief lapse of silence until he hears a “Hey, wait!” and a bike peddling behind him. Eddie doesn’t slow his pace, and debates ignoring this boy as he comes up to ride alongside him obnoxiously.

“You’re heading this way too?” the boy asks, and Eddie spares him a glance. “Think of me as an escort – so you don’t accidently hurt anyone else.”

Eddie swallows down his remark and rubs absently at his nose. Ten more minutes until he’ll reach the school grounds, and he doesn’t think he can handle listening to this guy talk the entire time there. So he makes a sharp left turn in the wrong direction, not caring he’ll be late for his first class and hopes the boy doesn’t follow.

He does.

There’s another grunt of distress. “Whoops, almost lost you,” he huffs as he turns his bike swiftly. “Warn me next time.”

“There won’t _be_ a ‘next time’,” snaps Eddie.

“Whoa, who pissed in _your_ cereal this morning,” he jokes, letting go of the handle bars and crossing his arms, still perfectly balanced. Eddie tries not to get nervous as he watches. “So what’s your name?”

Eddie breathes through his nose in an effort to calm the racing of his heart. _This guy_. “Eddie,” he grits out.

The boy hums. “Cute.”

“What?” says Eddie and comes to a stop.

The boy grips the handle bars again in favour of cycling in circles around Eddie. “What? No one ever compliment you before? What a waste.”

Eddie follows the boy’s movements, mind stuck on replay. What in God’s name was happening right now? Had he stepped into the Twilight Zone when he wasn’t looking? He rubs idly at his temple and makes the decision to strongly ignore the heat that has spread to his cheeks.

Finally the boy makes an abrupt halt in Eddie’s path, teeth showing through a grin.

“Don’t you wanna know my name?” he flirts.

“Not particularly,” grumbles Eddie.

“It’s Richie,” he says, offering a hand. Eddie looks down at it. There’s ash covering the tips, and instantly Eddie’s mother is shouting warnings about dirt and disease in his head. Eventually Richie pulls it back when Eddie doesn’t move. “Well, uh… this has been… _educational_.”

“Sure,” says Eddie slowly.

Richie eyes him carefully and chews on his bottom lip. Eddie wants to tell him it’s a bad habit. Then Richie nods once, smiling, and says, “I do hope we meet again, Eds. But be careful in the future, promise?” he gestures to Eddie as a whole. “Precious cargo.”

He’s riding away before Eddie can even respond, and he’s so thrown off by the unwelcome safety lesson and blatant flirting that he didn’t even register how casually Richie slipped in that nickname.

“Unbelievable,” mutters Eddie, and takes off in a run after checking his wristwatch and seeing the time.

He was late to school, but somehow couldn’t bring it in himself to mind too much.

 

*

 

Eddie’s second class for the day was English. Bill was placed in the more advanced class for their final year, but Eddie didn’t mind so much since he still had Stan to sit with.

He walks in on time and sees Stan sitting in the middle of the room. They bump fists before Eddie takes his seat next to him and pulls out his notebook. Their teacher this year was Mrs. Crawford – a short, beady-eyed woman with seriously bad dental hygiene, but at least her assignments were more selective based than most so Eddie can’t complain that much.

“I can’t believe this is our last year,” says Stan.

“I know,” says Eddie. Nothing in this room has changed for 20 years, except for the students that come and go every new year. Soon he’ll be one of them. “I’m still stuck on what I should do once we finally leave here.”

“My father wants me to take over the synagogue.”

“Well, if it’s what you want,” shrugs Eddie. “I’m not sure I’ll even leave Derry. I can’t see myself getting past my mother.”

Stan hums quietly as he writes something down.

Soon everybody seems to have arrived to class and Mrs. Crawford takes attendance, ticking them off one by one, all students that Eddie is familiar with. Then his mind suddenly wanders back to that boy on his bike.

“Now class,” announces Mrs. Crawford as she walks over towards the door. “We have a new student starting with us this year,” she calls out into the hallway, “Come on in, dear.”

Eddie’s attention focuses on the door and he can’t shake the sudden feeling of dread brewing in his gut. The entire situation has an element of b-grade-sitcom to it and Eddie was not at all ready for this.

A figure in all black steps into the room, and just like that all of Eddie’s scrambled thoughts are confirmed.

Immediately the room is filled with excited whispers. Richie stands at the front of the class, still wearing his jacket even in their poorly air-conditioned classrooms and carrying no stationary or books at all. Eddie tries desperately to shrink down out of sight.

“Well dear, you’re welcome to tell us a bit about yourself,” says Mrs. Crawford, gesturing out to the rest of the staring students.

It’s quite rare in Derry for anyone new to just appear in their town – even rarer that it’s another student. Eddie knows for certain it’ll be talked about for weeks, maybe even months, and just when he thought his last year of high school was going to flow by undisturbed. Typical.

“Why thank you, gorgeous,” says Richie with a wink to Mrs. Crawford. Eddie tries not to gag or roll his eyes loud enough to draw attention. “I’m Richie. I arrived here in your lovely town a few days ago from down south. And if someone here could tell me where you run your underground brothels that would be real helpful—”

“Okay Mr. Tozier, that’s quite enough. Take a seat please,” interjects Mrs. Crawford over the hushed giggles in the front row. “I see you didn’t bring any of your books.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. My uncle was getting it all for me today, I promise,” says Richie with a charming smile.

Mrs. Crawford eyes him before she sighs. “Alright. Take a seat next to Mr. Kaspbrak in the middle there. Eddie, please make sure Mr. Tozier leaves today’s lesson with all of the necessary notes.”

“Fine,” grumbles Eddie, hardly believing his luck.

He sees instantly when Richie’s eyes light up and he’s grinning as he walks towards Eddie to take his seat next to him.

“My, my, what great luck I’m having today to run into you again, Eds,” says Richie.

“What?” Stan whispers to Eddie, but not quietly enough.

“Oh, I already know dear old Eddie Bear here,” says Richie, wagging his eyebrows. He then holds out his hand to Stan across Eddie’s desk. “Richie. Nice to meet you, Eddie’s Friend.”

“Stan,” he corrects, and shakes it. “I’m surprised Eddie made a new friend all on his own.”

“Hey—” objects Eddie.

“Ah, I don’t think we’re quite there yet,” says Richie, giving Eddie a wink. Eddie wonders if the floor will swallow him up if he sinks any further in his seat. “But I’m sure over time my charm will just become too irresistible. Isn’t that right, Eds?”

“It’s _Eddie_ ,” he says irritably. 

“Well, welcome to Derry, I guess,” says Stan, and his attention snaps to Mrs. Crawford once she clears her throat pointedly.

There’s still a number of hushed words spreading around the classroom, most definitely still pertaining to Richie’s sudden appearance. Eddie’s glances around and notices a clique of girls all giggling amongst themselves as they keep looking over to where Richie is now casually leaning back in his seat in true devil-may-care fashion. Eddie makes a point to stare them down into silence, suddenly more irritated that this guy is causing so much chaos already.

Soon he tries to distract himself from the constant murmuring and focuses on whatever it is Mrs. Crawford is trying desperately to mould into their minds, until there’s a light tap on his shoulder. He looks over to see Richie giving him a sheepish smile.

“Hey, uh, can I borrow a pen?”

Right, he didn’t bring any supplies with him, thinks Eddie.

He sighs lowly and hands Richie one of his seven spare pens from his pencil case before facing the front once again. There’s peace for maybe 20 seconds (not that he was counting) before there’s another tap on his shoulder.

“Can I also borrow a sheet of paper?” asks Richie, and his voice is a lot closer so as to avoid a scolding. Eddie sees Mrs. Crawford shoot them _the look_ anyway.

As quickly as he can, Eddie rips out a page from his notebook and almost throws it in Richie’s face. Richie leans back and settles comfortably in his chair, and like some kind of sixth sense Eddie just knows Richie is still looking at him.

“Thanks, Eds.”

That same hot feeling makes an appearance under Eddie’s skin, and hoping Richie will finally ignore him, Eddie gives him a curt nod and resumes his attention on Mrs. Crawford.

It isn’t until about halfway into the lesson that curiosity gets the better of Eddie and he finds himself sneaking a glance over to where Richie has been writing non-stop since he gave him the paper. But instead of notes all he sees are… doodles?

Richie was just… _drawing_?

With a disbelieving scoff, Eddie watches the clock atop the door frame and desperately waits for the minutes to tick down.

 

*

 

When the bell for lunch rang out on the second day Eddie hails it as a blessing. After rushing out of the house this morning and stupidly skipping breakfast despite his mother’s protests, his stomach is brewing up a storm and his eyes are on the prize.

“Jeez, Eddie, slow down or you’ll choke,” jokes Stan once they’re outside and sitting down to eat.

“Whaaeber,” says Eddie around a mouthful of food.

Bill, sitting to Stan’s right, laughs quietly at him and opens up his container of pasta salad. Together they mostly eat in silence until they’re all finished, and during that time Eddie likes to observe the other students around them. About half the school’s population sits inside in their cafeteria during breaks, but Eddie’s never quite liked the awful lighting and gross plastic seats covered in probably a million germs from countless food fights.

Years ago Stan, Bill and himself chose this spot under a large basswood tree. It was just far enough away from everyone that Eddie could forget for a few moments that he was here – that he could imagine he was anywhere else.

They were always nice thoughts until the bell rang and brought him back to reality.

Only today his daydreams are interrupted prematurely when Stan says “Hey, isn’t that the new kid sitting on the roof?”

Instantly Eddie’s attention is caught and he’s following Stan’s helpful pointing up to where there is, in fact, someone sitting near the roofs edge. The mop of black hair is unmistakable, as is his token leather jacket, and Eddie feels a mixture of annoyance and nosiness creep its way to the surface.

“How the hell did he get up there?” he says.

“I d-didn’t think anyone was allowed,” says Bill.

“Of course he’s not _allowed_ ,” says Eddie lowly. Richie held what looked to be a book in his hands, and somehow that made the situation even more bizarre. He was sitting far back enough that the students closer to the school couldn’t see him, but where Eddie and his friends were they could view him plain as day.

“At this rate this guy is just asking for trouble,” says Stan.

And then, as if somehow sensing he was being watched, Richie lowers his book and his gaze seems to look out to where Eddie was still sitting and watching him intently. Eddie feels as if he’s been caught with his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar, but then he wants to laugh at himself because _he’s_ not the one doing something as stupid as breaking onto the school roof in the middle of the day.

Then as if in slow motion, Richie holds up his hand and waves right at him.

Eddie feels his face scrunch up into a deep frown, but has trouble tearing his gaze away. When some time passes and he doesn’t wave back, Bill speaks up:

“Uh, Eddie… w-w-why is the new kid waving at you?”

Still stuck in some kind of frozen limbo, Stan takes the reins and waves back to Richie before looking at Eddie expectantly. Eddie avoids their gazes.

“How do you know he wasn’t waving at Stan?”

“Pretty sure he knows _you_ the best, ‘Eddie Bear’,” says Stan, his tone clearly teasing.

“That’s stupid,” mumbles Eddie. “And don’t encourage him by waving back. He shouldn’t be up there. Something’s seriously loose in his mind, I’m telling you.”

“He seems friendly enough,” says Stan conversationally, but then he turns to ask Bill about their weekend plans and so Eddie is left to deal with his many, many thoughts about what this kid’s deal is.

Not long after that the bell finally goes off and they pack up their stuff to head back inside. Biting his lip, Eddie looks up to see if Richie is still there. He’s not, and Eddie shakes his head shortly, following behind Bill and ignoring the inkling of desire to scan the hallways for those infamous dark curls.

 

*

 

When school lets out at the end of the day, Eddie declines Stan and Bill’s offer to go to the Aladdin, insisting his mum wants him home early enough to be able to tape her shows while she’s out visiting her friend. His friends give him pitying looks but ultimately say goodbye, and Eddie begins his walk home in the dry, slightly overcast Fall afternoon.

He brings his hands up to his lips and blows out a low tune as he ambles down the street. The wind blows past him loudly, distracting him from his tone of key, and with a sigh he starts up again.

A ring of a bell dings once behind him, and Eddie stays in his lane to let the bike pass him safely. Only it doesn’t ride past, and Eddie feels like he should have seen this coming.

“Well, well, fancy meeting you here.”

Eddie lowers his hands in favour of clenching them slightly, and angles his head over to see none other than Richie giving him a thousand watt grin.

“Do I somehow have a note stuck to my back that says ‘Yes, please come over here and bother me to your heart’s content’?” says Eddie.

“Oh, touchy,” teases Richie.

“Are you stalking me or something?”

Richie’s eyebrows rise. “Does it get you all hot and bothered thinking that you have my undivided attention? Aw, Eds.”

“What is your problem?” says Eddie. “You’re seriously the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”

“Really?” says Richie, sounding genuinely surprised. “Although, I suppose ‘weird’ is better than ‘freak’ or ‘ungrateful pig-headed degenerate’.”

Momentarily curious about where those names came from, Eddie chooses instead to just focus on the road, glancing at his wristwatch again and seeing he still has time before his mother’s show starts.

“How did you get on the school’s roof today?” asks Eddie, because the still begrudgingly impressed side of him wants to know.

“Ah, that’s for me to know and you to find out,” answers Richie unhelpfully. “The view sure is nice, though.”

“I bet it is,” grunts Eddie and speeds up.

Richie catches up easily. There’s an awkward moment of silence. “Do you really not like me?” he eventually asks, tone losing some of its bravado.

The word ‘No’ _should_ be leaving Eddie’s mouth over to Richie’s awaiting ears. ‘No, I don’t, so go away’ _should_ be making its grand entrance once and for all, but they grow stubborn. Frustrated at himself, Eddie eventually lands on: "I hardly even know you."

Something in that answer must cause Richie to relax slightly because he continues to ride alongside him, and then cautiously he begins to hum.

Eddie recognizes the melody after a few moments, and without much thought to it he joins in with Richie when the chorus hits, and they don’t stop until they finish the song together.

“You dig Thin Lizzy?” asks Richie when they’re done.

“Of course. They helped me to get through eighth grade, man,” says Eddie, eyeing Richie carefully.

“Nice,” says Richie with a smile. Their eyes meet briefly and then Eddie jerks his away quickly. “I have all of their music, so if you ever wanna come over and borrow something you totally can.”

Eddie licks his lips before saying, “Cool. Uh… thanks.”

“Not a problem, Eds,” says Richie, and gets a better grip on his handle bars. “I must be off, sadly. But let’s do this again sometime, yeah? See you in class tomorrow.” And with that, he makes a u-turn and heads off in the opposite direction. Eddie watches him raptly until he’s out of sight.

If you were to ask Eddie right now what exactly was happening, he wouldn’t be able to give you an honest answer.

But in knowing that, Eddie couldn’t smother the budding flame of excitement rooted deep in his gut.

Maybe life in Derry was about to get interesting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you all enjoyed this first chapter! lemme know your thoughts, and I'm totally open to any suggestions to add in future chapters!  
> also they were humming 'boys are back in town' :3  
> find me on tumblr @edsbrak if u wanna chat! x


	2. Prescriptions and Mixtapes

It’s Saturday morning and Eddie’s mum sends him over the road to pick up his standard refills.

Eddie’s certain he and his mum are the pharmacists best customers based on how frequently they visit here. He can’t even place the time when he’d started regularly picking up his prescriptions by himself, and now he’d often wonder if there would come a day when he wouldn’t need to take all of these different drugs to help ‘keep him better’ as his mum put it simply.

He blows into his cupped hands thrice and steps inside the store, saying his greetings to Mr. Keene before the man wonders off behind the counter to collect Eddie’s refills.

Saturday’s were always Derry’s busiest mornings. Most shops stayed closed on Sunday’s, so people in their town were all forced out of bed early in the morning to purchase the week’s shopping supplies. Which is where his mum was right now; Eddie always takes the pharmacy while his mother did the grocery shopping (her tastes always differ so she insists on taking charge of the food).

Eddie was fine with that – the disgusting floors and ridiculously confusing shelving of the grocery store was something Eddie prefers to avoid.     

“Here you go Eddie,” Mr. Keene says once he returns. “And say hi to your mum for me.”

Eddie nods, taking the small rattling jars quickly and walking away. “Thanks. I will.”

He exits the store and squints into the light as he glances down the street. He can see his mother’s car still parked out the front of the shop, so he decides to wait outside on the footpath.

He observes other residents of the town as they walk past; a girl and her mother, an old man and his small yappy dog, two kids from his school who both give him a look as they pass. Eddie clutches his bag closer to his side and avoids any eye contact after that.

When a few more minutes pass and his mother still hasn’t shown, Eddie peaks halfway into the sliding doors of the grocery to see if he can spot her.

She was in the confectionary aisle, seemingly flirting (if her shrill giggles were anything to go by) with the man that Eddie thinks owns the dry cleaners around the corner. He sighs, knowing his mum will probably take her time now, and reluctantly leaves to go and find something else to occupy his time.

There’s a second-hand bookstore across the street that sometimes has magazines out the back that he can flip through. But before he can enter the shop the bell on the door rings out and another customer bumps right into his shoulder.

“Hey—” starts Eddie, but he’s cut short by a familiar laugh.

He looks up to see Richie standing in front of him, giving Eddie that all-knowing grin he’s seemed to master in the past week. His signature leather jacket has disappeared in favour of a denim jacket that’s covered in patches and politically-aware pins. He’s also branding a t-shirt that says ‘Death To The Man’.

“Well, well, if it ain’t ol’ Eds,” says Richie in a particularly horrible English accent. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?”

“Pure coincidence,” says Eddie, figuring his plan to hide away behind the magazines have now been cut short. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“Our meetings are always a pleasure, Eds. Don’t deny it,” winks Richie, and Eddie looks away with a huff.

Eddie then realizes they’re standing quite close, so he steps away quickly to allow Richie to leave the doorframe of the shop. They make eye contact, and the longer it lasts the wider Richie’s smile grows. Eddie looks away again. _Ugh_.

“Sorry, did you have somewhere to be?” asks Eddie flippantly, mostly out of politeness and slightly out of curiosity. A ridiculous part of him hopes Richie says ‘no’, which he ignores.

“Want me to stick around, eh, Eds?” coos Richie as he crosses his arms over his chest. There’s a book clutched in his hand Eddie hadn’t noticed before. “I would if I could, but my uncle wants me back at his shop in five minutes or so.”

 _His uncle?_ thinks Eddie, until he remembers. “Oh, right. You said in English class you live with him.” He pauses to remember anything else. “You finally get those supplies so you don’t need to borrow off of me anymore?”

“Aw, Eds, you know you love being my sole provider,” says Richie, leaning in closer.

Eddie doesn’t step away and instead tries to make himself appear taller. “Well, from the looks of it you _are_ capable of buying things, although nothing related to school, it seems.”

Richie glances down at the book he’d just bought. “Oh, yeah. Well, this _is_ a classic, so you can’t blame me for that.” He shows the cover to Eddie proudly.

“Eva Luna?” says Eddie. “I don’t think something that’s only existed for a handful of years can be dubbed a ‘classic’.”

“This is an exception to the rule, then,” says Richie. “You read much?”

“Occasionally,” shrugs Eddie. “I’m guessing you do?”

“Oh, not really,” admits Richie, and Eddie frowns questioningly at him. “I tend to get distracted easily. So, reading’s always been kind of hard for me. But there are a few books I’m willing to put the extra effort into reading, you know?”

“Not really,” echoes Eddie. He can’t really think of anything in particular he feels that passionately about, to do just for himself. His mother likes to disapprove of a lot of things.

Richie turns and makes a slow step away in the opposite direction of the grocery store. Without thinking, Eddie follows him almost instinctually, as if knowing their conversation hasn’t quite finished yet. Richie seems pleased, and he swings his arm out to tap Eddie’s shopping bag lightly.

“What’ve you been shopping for?”

“Oh, uh,” says Eddie slowly, wondering what Richie might say in response to his many, many prescriptions. “Just… my medication. Um, my mum… says that I’ve always needed them from a young age. Before I can even really remember.”

Richie hums lowly, but doesn’t appear to want to push him further. Eddie finds he’s kind of thankful for it, since trying to explain the inner workings of his mother’s crazy mind to someone who is essentially still a stranger can be a tedious process. Suddenly, some kids run past them at full speed, and Eddie finds himself bumping into Richie’s side to avoid a collision. Richie’s hand reaches out to steady him, and Eddie’s previously spiked heart-rate morphs into a different causation.   

“You okay?” asks Richie, clearly trying to hide his smile.

“Yeah,” dismisses Eddie quickly. They fall back into step as Eddie rubs where Richie’s warm hand had just been. “So, um, what’s your uncle’s store?”

“Oh,” says Richie, and points up ahead. “He owns the pizza parlour. I help him out with deliveries on weekends.”

“Your uncle is Mr. Chernik?”

“Yeah. What, you two friendly with each other?”

“It’s the only pizza place in town,” says Eddie. “My friends and I go there at least once a week. We love it there.”

“Yeah well,” says Richie, and his tone turns slightly bitter. “I guess my parents think the same thing, since they decided to send me up here to quote ‘improve upon my character growth’ unquote.”

“Oh,” says Eddie, feeling slightly awkward. He’s not sure how much he can ask about Richie’s situation. He’s not even sure why he cares to know at all. He plays it safe: “Where did they send you from?”

“Portland,” answers Richie, and he sounds happier. “My friends said they’d come up and visit as soon as they could. It’s strange, being in a small town like this.”

“I wouldn’t know what it’s like living in a big city,” offers Eddie.

He can imagine what it must be like though; taking into account what he’s seen in movies and TV. The only thing he finds less appealing is the higher crime rates compared to a small town like Derry. He wonders how much Richie must feel like a fish out of water right now – to be sent away by his parents doesn’t exactly scream great home life. Eddie can sympathize.

“I guess if one good thing has come out of all of this, it’s been getting to know you, Eddie Spaghetti,” says Richie, turning to smile at Eddie.

If Richie hadn’t have sounded so sincere, Eddie would have brushed it off as another one of Richie’s ploys to annoy him. But instead, it merely causes a bloom of warmth to burst in Eddie’s chest.

“That’s the only good thing?” he tries to deflect with a laugh. “So, okay. You live with your uncle above the pizzeria. And you do deliveries. So, that means you drive?”

Richie nods, looking down at the pavement. “As soon as I turned sixteen. My plan is to save up enough money to buy myself a scrappy car to fix up, and then travel the country.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely,” says Richie. “Haven’t you ever wanted to just… escape? To leave everything behind and start fresh?”

Eddie opens his mouth and then closes it. He has no idea, honestly. Up until now, the possibility of ever leaving Derry had been slim to none. As much as he tries sometimes, he just can’t see past life after high school. He knows his mother is the cause of a big part of that, but how much is because of himself? Where had this fear come from?

“Eddie,” says Richie, and Eddie’s attention snaps over to him. “You okay? You spaced out for a bit there.”

Eddie clears his throat and resists reaching for his inhaler. “Yeah, yes. I’m fine.”

Richie still gives him a concerned look, but lets it slide. They finally reach the end of the street, and there’s some noise coming from the alleyway next to the pizzaria. A man covered head to toe in flour appears from around the corner, and he startles slightly when he spots them near the entrance.

“Ah, Richie, you’re back,” says Mr. Chernik. “Eddie, almost didn’t see you there.” He walks over to them and nods while he cleans off his hands. “Nice to see you’ve made a friend, Rich.”

“Yeah, yeah,” says Richie on an eye-roll.

“Alright, well I need you inside to help Robert out back in storage, okay?” says Mr. Chernik to Richie, and says his goodbye to Eddie before stepping inside the shop.

“You said you were saving up, right?” asks Eddie. “So your uncle pays you to work? That’s nice, at least.”

“Yeah,” Richie says after a moment passes. “I guess that’s a silver lining.”

There’s a shrill call coming from back down the street, and Eddie turns around to see his mother has finally left the grocery store and is having trouble trying to pile everything into the trunk of their bandwagon. She calls out for him again and Eddie knows it’s really time to go.

“Well, nice seeing you,” says Eddie, and finds he actually means it this time. _Huh_. “But I have to go.”

“Me too,” Richie gestures behind him, and then they both hesitate for a moment.

When nothing life-changing happens Eddie finally makes the first move and begins to walk away out of ear-shot, but not before Richie can call out to him in that familiar teasing tone:

“Hey, tell you mum I say hi! She seems like a positively charming woman!”

With a disbelieving snort, Eddie swivels around to shout back: “You’re such a goddamn trash-mouth, you know that?”

Richie simply finger-salutes back and disappears inside the store. When Eddie arrives at their car and his mum asks him why he was taking so long, Eddie lies and says the pharmacy misplaced his prescriptions.

On the ride home, Eddie finds himself actually looking forward to the coming school weeks.

*

In the end, the weeks pass by relatively uneventfully.

Classes do start to become that little bit harder, when all of the teachers collectively decide to pile up their homework when it’s clear to any outsider that they already have plenty to deal with as it is.

Eddie never realized that the life of a senior really wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, if up until now you still hadn’t joined a sports team or a popular clique. Really, it was all just an elaborate popularity contest that Eddie had no intention of winning. He was content, in this moment, to get through the year unnoticed and to continue living out a perfectly normal life.  

 _Fuck the system,_ Eddie thinks.

And during those first few weeks, Eddie regularly saw Richie hanging out around the school (and again a couple of times on the roof). He was almost always alone, unless begrudgingly copping it from a faculty member. And no matter when or where, he was always occupying his attention either with a book or doodling or skipping through songs on an old walkman he carried around with him.

Often times when Eddie had hung out with Stan and Bill after school, he’d see Richie walking along the main street in their town, or sometimes sitting outside the library with a book under a nice shady tree.

Eddie felt like he should be asking Richie to join them, perhaps; to see if he wanted to come with them down to the quarry he probably hadn’t visited yet. But then he stops, wondering if maybe Richie preferred to be alone, and soon the moment passed and Eddie would just see him the next day at school.

Although there were always their trips walking to and from school, something they’d done a few more times since that fateful first day. Eddie can admit (only to himself, of course) that he rather enjoys their conversations, and each morning catches himself hoping to see Richie approaching on his bike.

And then one day he realizes something.

“Hey,” he starts, and waits for Richie to acknowledge him. “You live above the pizzeria, and yet you bother to bike way off of your route to travel to school.”

“Uh, yeah,” says Richie, and if Eddie didn’t know any better he’d say he sounds nervous. “I just thought, may as well grace you with the pleasure of my company, of course.”

Eddie doesn’t satisfy him with a remark, finding sometimes he quite enjoys keeping Richie on his toes.

*

Walking into English class the following Monday morning, Eddie takes his trademark seat and greets Stan with a casual nod when his friend takes his spot beside him. The room starts to fill up slowly, as per usual, and through no fault of his own it’s only natural when Eddie’s gaze continuously glances over to the door in the hopes of spying out one Richie Tozier.

Call it habitual biology, if you will.

When Mrs. Crawford begins handing out permission slips for the viewing of an 18+ film she’ll be showing in class, it distracts Eddie long enough that he doesn’t notice a body plop into the seat to his right.

“Hey Eds.”

Eddie would argue he does not twitch like a frightened animal when Richie greets him, rather he was more shocked by the lack of black clothing Richie was sporting today therefore Eddie couldn’t recognize him. The obnoxiously bright colours of his Hawaiian shirt stood out considerably amongst the bleak senior class, as did his almost neon yellow shoes. Where does one even _find_ shoes like that? More importantly, who even _makes_ shoes like that?

“Hey,” Eddie eventually replies.

“Hey Stan,” Richie adds.

“Hey man,” Stan says, and passes along the slips to them.

Eddie looks at it and knows he’ll have to forge his mother’s signature, otherwise he won’t be watching the film. Unfortunately, he’s not so good with his copying skills. Fortunately, he thinks Richie might be. He makes a note to ask him later.

“Now everyone,” calls Mrs. Crawford, “We won’t be viewing the film in class for another two weeks, so until then, I am assigning you all a brief, partnered essay on whichever two topics you wish off the board up the front. It must be no less than one thousand words.”

Eddie groans, hating partnering up for assignments. Maybe he’ll be paired with Stan, which would make it a lot more tolerable.

“When I call your names, find your assigned partner and talk amongst each other. I insist you have your topic outlines completed by the end of class.”

Eddie scribbles in his notebook as he waits, and then slumps considerably when Stan’s name is called out along with someone else. Finally his name pops up:

“Eddie, and… Richie.”

“Nice, high five,” whispers Richie, and Eddie thinks it could be worse.

Mrs. Crawford tends to whatever other work she deems more necessary and allows the students to organize their assignments by themselves for the remainder of the lesson. Instead most take the chance to simply talk about movies or pass along school gossip. Stan leaves to take a seat next to his new partner sitting up the back, and Eddie turns to face Richie and hopes to have this sorted by the end of the lesson.

“Fate sure likes to throw us together, right Eds?”

At this point, Eddie has already stopped correcting him on the nickname.

“Sure,” he agrees easily. “So, any thoughts on the topic selection?”

“You can pick whichever,” says Richie. “I’m happy to follow your lead.”

“As long as I’m not stuck doing everything,” warns Eddie.

“You have my word.” Richie places his hand over his heart dramatically and gives him a wink. Eddie wants desperately to believe him.

“I’m holding you to that.”

Eventually, Eddie narrows down the topic choices and selects two for them to study, all the while Richie had pulled out a pen to doodle throughout most of the lesson. Eddie observed him occasionally, and thought Richie was actually quite a decent drawer. He seemed to specialize specifically on caricatures.

Eddie really did hope Richie wouldn’t flake out on him with this assignment, but from what little Eddie knew of him, somehow he felt Richie wouldn’t just leave him in the dust. He appears to be a smart guy, too, although with trouble actually applying himself, it seems.

When the bell rang out and students piled out of the classroom left, right and centre, Eddie caught sight of Stan and they began walking down the hall together. Only then did Eddie catch himself and turn around to search out Richie.

“Looking for me?”

Eddie jerks slightly away when Richie pops up to his right. “Jesus, stop doing that! And, uh… yeah.”

“We’re heading outside for our break,” says Stan. “Would you like to eat with us?”

Eddie can clearly see Richie is mildly surprised by the offer, and his gaze switches over to Eddie, as if asking for permission. It hurts, slightly, for Richie to think that Eddie might not want him there. But then again, Eddie has never voiced otherwise.

“Come with us,” insists Eddie. “I mean, we can figure out a plan for days we can meet up to study, right? And you haven’t met Bill, either.”

“Right,” says Richie, pausing slightly. And then he smiles. “Yeah, okay. Well then, lead the way my good fellows!” he brings out his poor English accent again.

Stan laughs, and that almost surprises Eddie, in a good way.

“That was terrible. I like it,” says Stan.

“Happy to be of service.”

“Come on,” says Eddie, and they all continue on down the hall. Eddie brushes against Richie’s side a few times, and suddenly, as if it were completely natural, Richie slings his arm around Eddie’s shoulders like a steady vice. Eddie hopes Richie doesn’t notice how tense he becomes.

And only after Richie steps away can Eddie feel like he can breathe properly.

*

After their impromptu hang out session at school and Richie had formally met Bill, Eddie had suggested they all meet up at the library after school on Wednesday to study. Everyone seemed to have some other commitment either on Monday or Tuesday, so eventually Wednesday became the default.

On Tuesday, Richie had joined them again at lunch, fitting in almost seamlessly and chatting away with Stan and Bill as if he’d always been there.

It simultaneously made Eddie glad and irritated.

It was still hard to dissect if he liked Richie or not. The other boy was funny when he really wanted to be, and Eddie enjoyed his company most times they ran into each other. But he could also be cocky, and brash, and sometimes it was hard to differentiate between his jokes and when he was actually being honest. He was a puzzle, really, and Eddie had never really been a fan of puzzles before.

When Wednesday morning rolls around, Eddie wakes up in bed feeling like utter crap.

Something like this would be downright impossible to hide from his mother, so he did not even attempt to act as if everything was okay and leave for school like usual. She checks his temperature immediately, fussing about in a panic and shoving what feels like 20 pills into his hand to swallow.

She calls up the school to inform them Eddie will not be coming in. Sent back to bed, she continuously checks up on him every hour on the hour, refilling his glass of water and changing the damp cloth resting over his forehead.

When Eddie feels himself growing irritated of her pestering, he fakes that his illness is acting up so she will have to leave the house to buy more medicine. It works, and once he hears the car pulling out of the driveway he groggily stumbles out of bed and rummages the house for some loose batteries. When he successfully finds some he retreats to his room and pulls out his old walkie-talkie that his mother thinks she threw away years ago. Eddie knows Stan and Bill still have theirs.  

He places the batteries in it and crosses his fingers it will still work.

“Hey guys, it’s Eddie, do you copy? Over.”

It’s just after when school finishes, and Eddie knows his friends like to swing by Stan’s house to get some snacks before heading out to the library. He can only hope he’ll catch them.

He repeats his phrase plenty more times over the next ten minutes, and just as he’s about to give up, he hears Stan’s voice crackle on the other end.

“Eddie? Was that you? We’re here, over.”

Eddie brings it back up to his lips at lightning speed. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m at home with the flu. Over.”

There’s brief static and then: “That sucks. I’m guessing you can’t make it to study then? Over.”

“No, sorry. Over.” he says, before adding: “Is Richie with you? Over.”

“No, we’re meeting him there. I’ll let him know you’re sick. We’ll probably just hang out, anyway. Over.”

Eddie feels a pang of jealousy. And about what? “Okay, thanks. Um, have fun. Over.”

“Get better, man. Oh, and it’s nice to hear you over the walkies again, dude. We’ve missed you. Over.”

Eddie can’t help but smile. “Thanks. I’ll see you guys real soon. Over and out.”

“Over and out.”

Once the room is silent again Eddie sits there for a while, just fiddling with the buttons and listening out for his mother to return. He ends up putting the walkie-talkie in an old shoebox and hides it far under his bed. Soon his previous jealousy acts up again and he can’t help but fester on it for a while.

It was irrational, and he knew it. It wasn’t like they were five years old again and dumping old friends for new ones were a weekly occurrence. He knew Richie wouldn’t edge him out. He knew Stan and Bill wouldn’t suddenly realize what a nuisance Eddie was and drop him as a friend.

And yet, even knowing all of this he still couldn’t help but feel left out.

Later his mother makes up dinner for him and somehow includes every steamed vegetable known to man on one plate. Eddie picks at it after a few bites, his stomach not agreeing with him anymore, and his mother cleans up his room before leaving him to an early sleep. And he might have been fine with that if his body wasn’t still intent on murdering him on the inside and allowed him to actually rest. So he thinks about his friends instead, wondering if they all went and did something fun together after studying. He wonders if Richie joined them.

A little after 8 o’clock Eddie hears the doorbell ring downstairs.

Curious, he gets out of bed and cracks open his door, trying to listen in to who could possibly be visiting at this hour.

“Yes? Who are you, what do you want?” his mother says.

“Um, is Eddie around? I’m a… friend of his.”

Eddie feels a flush of heat not related to his flu course through him. _Richie._ What on Earth?

“He’s sick. Why are you here?”

“I, uh,” stumbles Richie, clearly not used to his mother’s unrelenting personality. “I just… have some homework to give him. From today.”

There’s a moment of silence, where Eddie guesses his mother is probably looking over whatever pieces of paper Richie must have handed her. Eddie holds his breath without meaning to. Finally she says:

“Okay, I will give it to him. You can go now.”

“Right. Sure. Thanks.”

The door closes and Eddie wishes he could have been the one to open the door instead. Quickly, he turns around and crosses his room, lifting up his window as quietly as he can, and tries to spot Richie leaving their property. Around the corner a figure and a bike appear, and Eddie is sure it’s him.

“Richie!” he whisper-shouts.

The figure seems to stop and search around for the caller, and eventually he looks up to see Eddie waving to beckon him over. Richie dumps his bike again and inches closer, and soon the moonlight is showing Richie’s patched-up denim jacket and that shit-eating grin.

“Eds? Thought you were asleep. Cheeky.”

“I tried. Can’t.” says Eddie. He lowers his voice in fear of his mother hearing. “Did you really come over to give me homework?”

“What?” asks Richie, clearly not hearing him properly, and then he shakes his head. “Hold on, I’m coming up.”

“Wait,” says Eddie, panicking. “Wait, you can’t, my mum—”

Only Richie has already started to climb up the tree that grows along the side of their house. It takes him a few good minutes, but he’s getting higher and closer and Eddie cannot believe Richie Tozier is now climbing through his window like this is some goddamn 80s teen rom-com.

“Hey,” grins Richie, slightly panting.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Eddie grits out. “If my mum catches you—”

“Then I’ll just charm the pants off her, obviously.” Richie winks lewdly before looking around the room slowly. Eddie shuffles on the spot, still a bit dizzy from his flu. He goes to sit down in an attempt to settle it.

“Yeah, ‘cause you did so well downstairs,” jokes Eddie before he groans uncomfortably.

“Sorry, I know you’re not feeling good,” apologizes Richie. “I did actually bring over the homework from English class. I started on both topics today at the library, and I thought you might wanna check over it.”

Eddie blinks at him. That had almost been the last thing he’d expected. “Oh. Thank you.”

“I know you want a good grade, so I put in the effort for you,” says Richie, and perhaps so they don’t have to talk so loud he goes to sit right next to Eddie on the bed. Eddie tries to stop his eyes from widening. He reaches for his water desperately.

“What, you don’t usually put in any effort for yourself?” asks Eddie when he’s done.

Richie shrugs noncommittally, and doesn’t answer.

 _Richie Tozier is in my room, Richie Tozier is in my room,_ thinks Eddie over and over.

“Sad you couldn’t make it tonight,” says Richie after a moment, and he sounds completely honest. Eddie flushes again. “Bill and Stan were good company, though. You have cool friends.”

This time, there aren’t any stabs of jealousy, only pride. “Yeah, I do.”

Richie smiles at him and Eddie can’t bring it in himself to look away. And then Richie is pulling out a small box from his jacket pocket and handing it to Eddie.

“Remember when I said you could come over any time and look through my music? Well, I couldn’t really wait, so… I made you a mixtape.”

“You did?” asks Eddie, accepting the tape shyly. The cover reads: _Eddie Spaghetti Volume 1._ His fingers run over the smooth casing as Richie answers him.

“Yeah. It’s uh… well, I know we’ve never really talked about other artists, so I kind of just took a gamble and put this together. I think you’ll like it, though.”

Eddie realizes, with striking clarity, that no one has ever cared to make him a mixtape before. He’s not sure what to think knowing Richie has made this one for him, and he’s instantly curious to listen to whatever is on it.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“I should um… go, I guess,” says Richie as he rubs his hands along his thighs. He stands slowly and looks back down at Eddie. “I hope you feel better soon. And… yeah.”

It was startling to see Richie acting so out of his element. Eddie nods, and watches Richie retreat to the window, and he’s halfway out when he angles around to give Eddie one last smile.

“See you soon, Eds.”

The minute Eddie is sure Richie has biked around the corner and is out of sight he goes to fish out his old tape player from his wardrobe and sets up the mixtape from the very beginning. Making sure the volume is on low, he presses play, and lies back on his bed and listens along with only the beating of his heart to accompany him.

Song after song goes by and Eddie hasn’t skipped any of them. It’s frightening, almost, how eerily accurate Richie is tuned to his tastes. The mix comes to a song that Eddie can recognize from the first two chords, and he rolls over onto his side to curl up better.

_But I won’t cry for yesterday, there’s an ordinary world, somehow I have to find…_

Eddie draws in a deep breath, letting the words blanket him in a moment of calm.

_And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world, I will learn to survive…_

When the song is finished, Eddie stares up at his ceiling, eyelids heavy as he feels as though he’s sinking away and going happily. He thinks of Richie one final time.

“What the fuck?” he whispers to himself.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter, it got away from me and I couldn't stop adding stuff on to it ahah  
> lemme know your thoughts? thanks for reading! :D xx


	3. Hazy On My Mind

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Sonia Kaspbrak doesn’t allow Eddie to return to school for the remainder of the week.

Eddie was used to being bedridden. He usually spent his time listening to music or watching appropriated shows along with his mother downstairs, and he always took advantage of any opportunity to convince his mother to buy him various things so as to get her out of the house for some peace to his state of mind.

Over the years Stan and Bill had often tried to stop by and visit him, and most times Eddie’s mother would let them in on account of how she could trust them to be clean. But she would keep them on the clock and usher them back out when she saw fit, worried that too much interference from outside might contaminate Eddie further.

Most of this was fine, he guesses. It was a routine Eddie was used to and after a handful of carefully monitored days had passed he would return to his daily life and be with his friends once again.

Only now, as the remaining school days slowly passed by, all Eddie could think about was Richie Tozier and how different things were already becoming.

So instead of trying to pass the time by staring at a screen all day, Eddie spent most of his time upstairs in his room, hidden under his blankets and listening to the mixtape Richie made him over and over again, all the while chewing his bottom lip and wondering what the other boy could be doing in that moment in time.

He pictured Richie biking to school by himself. He could imagine Richie chatting with Stan in English class since Eddie wasn’t there for him to annoy. Had Stan and Bill continued to invite Richie to sit with them at lunch even when Eddie wasn’t there? How much did Stan and Bill actually enjoy having Richie around? Or was Richie hanging out with them just to be polite?

Eddie tries to fight away the trembling of his lower lip and instead exhales long and slow.

He knew better than that, of course.

What Eddie just couldn’t seem to wrap his head around was how much the thought still continues to scare him. Mere weeks ago he always caught himself wanting to invite Richie along with whatever he and his friends were doing, then felt relieved when things just continued on as they regularly do. He felt like he was getting whiplash from every conflicting feeling that would manifest whenever Richie was around him.

But something that had surprised him greatly was reading the essay topics Richie had given him that first night he was sick. He read over it once to check his research, then read it again, and after the fifth time Eddie had finally lowered the paper and frowned down at the ground, because…

Richie was really, incredibly smart.

For most of his life, Eddie always tried to never judge a book by its cover. But as far as first assumptions go, Eddie was usually on the money. But with Richie, so far every new piece of information Eddie learned about him just added to the intrigue. He was far from that bad boy stereotype Eddie had met on that first day, and by just simply reading Richie’s essay Eddie couldn’t fathom why the other boy didn’t just simply put in the effort and pass his classes with flying colours.

Still, Richie hadn’t tried to stop by again since Wednesday, and Eddie tries to tell himself he was fine with that. But then he’ll listen to the tape again and find himself wishing Richie was here so he could ask him the million questions that still continue to float around his head.

By the time Sunday rolls around, Eddie is itching to leave the house and do absolutely anything else other than use an entire bottle of vapour rub on his chest every day. And as if hearing his pleas from across town, a miracle presents itself in the form of ol’ Big Bill.

“Eddie? Eddie are you there? Over.”

It was faint, thanks to his walkie still being inside the box under his bed, but nothing could stop Eddie from listening out for any signs of his friends. He pulls it back out quickly so as not to miss his chance.

“Bill, it’s me. What are you guys doing? I need rescue, over.”

His reply is immediate. “We’re heading to the Aladdin. Want me to call your house? Over.”

Eddie is already putting on his shoes before Bill is finished. “Yes, please. Call in five minutes. Over.”

“Roger that, over.”

Eddie hides the walkie again and loads up his fannypack in preparation for his mother. Once he’s ready, he heads downstairs as casually as he can, passing the time by looking in the fridge and soon taking a seat next to his mother in the lounge room. She doesn’t appear to pick up on a change in behavior, so Eddie counts it as a win. Finally, the phone rings, and as not to arouse suspicion he stays sitting and allows his mother to answer it instead.

“Yes, who is it?” answers Sonia.

Eddie can’t hear Bill on the other end, but he knows his friend is playing up the most innocent voice to influence Sonia’s reigns. Eddie is also pretty sure she pity’s him slightly for his stutter.

“I’m not too happy about Eddie leaving the house yet, Bill,” says Sonia, and Eddie fakes his surprise and bounds over to her.

“That’s Bill? Ma, please, please can I see my friends? I feel so much better, honest,” he insists, plastering on a smile.

She eyes him momentarily as Bill, presumably, pleas into her ear as well. Eddie holds her gaze when she finally answers them. “Alright. He will meet you there. Goodbye.”

Eddie screams internally, hardly believing it worked. “Thank you, ma. I have all of my meds, and I won’t be home late, I promise—”

“Hold on,” she interrupts with that sickly sweet voice. “I’ll only allow you out if I drive you there and pick you up afterward. Okay?”

Eddie pauses, swallowing his frustrations and instead nods, figuring it’s the best he can do for now. “Okay.”

“Good,” she says, and reaches for her keys. “Your friends better have picked a tasteful movie to see.”

As soon as she drops him off, she’s already going on about taking his meds exactly on time, so he needs to listen out for his wristwatch during the film. Eddie humour’s her in an effort to see her off faster, and as she drives away he practically runs inside and searches around frantically for Bill and Stan. He doesn’t see them, so he ambles around while he huffs on his inhaler a few times. He spies the arcade and then pulls out the money his mother gave him. He has some extra, so playing a game or two wouldn’t hurt.

When he steps inside the adjacent room, he finds it’s quite packed. But even amongst all of the chatter and noise of the machines, one particular voice happens to stand out.

“Richie?”

Said boy looks over to him quickly before snapping back to the game he’s still playing.

“Eds! What a pleasure, glad to see you’re up and about!” he crows, stabbing at the buttons hard and fast. Eddie walks over until he’s at Richie’s side and peaks at his score.

“Holy shit, you’re good,” says Eddie, not even hiding his surprise.

“Oh, no—” says Richie, and makes the final blow. The screen instantly flashes ‘New High Score’ as Richie turns to him with a grin. “—I’m the _best_.”

Eddie scoffs a laugh. “Nice to hear you’re still as humble as ever.”

Richie shrugs cheekily before cracking his knuckles. He’s wearing another Hawaiian shirt today, although the colours are more faded than his last shirt. There are also several band-aids plastered over his hands, and Eddie can’t help but notice they need changing. But before he can bring them up, his name is being called from the arcade’s entrance.

“Hey, Eddie!”

That’s Bill, and next to him is Stan looking slightly out of breath. Eddie figures they got caught up somehow and biked over here in a hurry. They both spot Richie next as they amble closer.

“Hey, Richie,” greets Stan with a wave.

“Sup you guys,” says Richie, and throws them both a wink. Eddie frowns and wonders if they arranged for Richie to meet here too.

“Nice to s-se-ee you enjoying what Derry has to offer,” says Bill, gesturing to their surroundings. “W-we didn’t know you l-luh-liked arcade games.”

“Oh, absolutely,” says Richie, leaning back on a machine. “Street Fighter’s my pride and joy. I was surprised to find it all the way out here. So, you guys seeing a movie or something?”

 _So they hadn’t planned anything together_ , thinks Eddie. But then guilt strikes him and suddenly it feels strangely weird to not at least invite Richie to join them.

“Yeah, Jurassic Park’s still showing, so we’re going to see it again,” says Stan with a shrug.

“You wanna join us?” asks Eddie before anyone else can. He turns to face Richie head on, offering a soft smile as he rubs nervously along his arms. Richie’s posture seems to perk up a little bit, almost surprised, and then he’s slinging an arm around Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie’s starting to find he likes the closeness.

“Sure, Eds. That’s cool with you guys?” he asks Stan and Bill, and they both smile and nod in answer.

They all leave the arcade and make their way over to the ticket booth. Old Lady Bertha sits behind the glass partition as per usual, her beehive comically large with a cigarette perched on her left ear. Bill pays for Stan’s ticket as well, since Stan had paid for them both last time. Eddie purchases his ticket and is glad he still has enough to buy some Milk Duds at the candy bar. There’s a tug at his arm and Eddie looks over to Richie questioningly.

“Hey, uh,” says Richie, and then clears his throat as he looks around. “Listen, I’m… kind of a pain when it comes to watching movies. I mean, I have trouble with focusing and tend to narrate throughout most of it. So I figure I can just… sit away from you guys, I guess.”

It’s impossible to miss the lilt of embarrassment in Richie’s confession. He thinks of Richie sitting next to him in English class. He thinks of the effort he put into helping Eddie with their assignment. Mind made up, Eddie is having none of this.

“No way,” insists Eddie, trying to catch Richie’s gaze. “And besides, we’ve seen it already, remember? I’d love to hear what you have to say about Dr. Hammond’s ridiculous park scheme and if Newman’s death was really necessary.”

Richie appears taken aback by Eddie’s answer, and there’s a long moment where neither of them say anything, with only the popping of popcorn to fill the silence of the foyer. Then that familiar grin stretches its way across Richie’s face, and Eddie feels proud to know that _he_ did that.

“So you’re a Seinfeld fan, huh?” says Richie and proceeds to rub his hands together gleefully while wagging his eyebrows. “Alright, get ready Eds, for your mind is about to be _blown. Away_.”

Eddie can’t help but roll his eyes, but its effect is thrown off by the smile he can’t seem to wipe off his own face. They follow Stan and Bill into the theatre and find some decent seats up the back. Eddie’s glad they haven’t missed any of the previews for upcoming films.

“I fucking love the ads before a movie,” whispers Richie, and his breath is warm near Eddie’s ear. Eddie shivers involuntarily.

“The ads? Why?” asks Eddie, and feels Richie’s leg bounce against his occasionally. 

“For the jingles, obviously,” says Richie, and immediately begins to sing along with an ad for poptarts.

As it turns out, Richie was right; he manages to find something to comment on every few minutes during the film, and honestly, Eddie was mildly impressed, quite enjoying the voices Richie put on during certain scenes. And for almost the entire length of the film, Eddie catches himself looking at Richie almost more than the screen. He tries desperately to ignore the reasons behind it.

*

Eddie’s mother had meant every word about curfews and had picked Eddie up after the movie, right on the dot, and Eddie waved goodbye to his friends and said he’d see them tomorrow. They had all waved back with sad smiles, and Richie in particular had looked disappointed in a way Eddie thinks he must have imagined.

The drive home had been quiet again, aside from a question his mother asked.

(“That other boy, the one who dropped off that assignment last week – who is he?” she presses, always suspicious about any new people Eddie hangs out with.

“He’s—” Eddie stops, trying to stay on her good side. “He’s Mr. Chernik’s nephew. He’s a nice guy, ma. Honest.”

She hums lowly in reply, and Eddie tries to not read into it. But even if she were to try and forbid him from hanging out with Richie, Eddie is certain he wouldn’t let that stop him.)

Come Monday morning, Eddie is out the front door and practically skipping down the streets, simply just eager to be out of the house and away from his overbearing mother. He was glad that had only been the first time this year he’d gotten sick. Of course, he still had pills to take throughout the week, but it was a small price to pay if it meant freedom again. As soon as he spots Richie biking down one of the streets to meet him, Eddie is struck by the feeling of how completely normal this all feels, as if he’s been doing it his entire life and not just the past couple of months.

Richie slows to a stop beside him, and Eddie’s gaze is immediately drawn to the curls poking out underneath the maroon beanie Richie is wearing.

“Mornin’ Eds,” says Richie, but Eddie is hardly listening, too distracted by how his heart is suddenly beating faster. “Fuck, it’s been boring without having someone to talk to this past week. Stan and Bill are great, I mean, don’t get me wrong. But there’s something about you Eds that seems to be _just right_.”

“Huh?” says Eddie. _Why the hell can’t I look away?_ he thinks, eyes still on Richie’s hair.

“Earth to Eds,” says Richie, frowning slightly. He sees Eddie still focusing on him and subconsciously reaches up to his face. “What? Do I… look bad or something?”

Eddie blinks his way back to reality. “Since when do you care about what people think of your fashion choices?”

Richie looks out to the road for a while, almost quizzically. “Uh, never mind, then.”

Eddie feels his mouth pull down at Richie’s dismissive tone. What had he said that was so bad? He thought he was just telling the truth. In quick effort to lighten the mood, Eddie brings up their assignment for English, since they had a class today.

“You’re really smart, Richie,” says Eddie after they’d finished going over the topics again. “Why, um… I mean, I guess I just didn’t expect – it’s only because you doodle a lot, so it surprised me when you finished the paper so easily.”

Richie laughs, but it’s mostly humourless. “Thanks. It’s… people like to assume the worst in me when they meet me. It pisses me off, and I just…”

When he trails off, Eddie finishes for him. “Sorry, I know it’s probably none of my business.” Eddie hates it when people expect more of him – his mother, namely.

“It’s fine,” says Richie, and he sounds more genuine this time.

They continue on, and with a bout of confidence, Eddie finally admits, “Your hat. It looks good.”

Eddie is sure Richie goes to look at him in surprise, but Eddie’s _not_ sure he wants to know what expression he’s sporting.

And then, finally: “Eds, you smooth talking son of a bitch.”

Eddie learns then that he doesn’t need to see Richie’s face – that proud grin is displayed clearly in his voice.

*

Come Friday, and everything feels as if it’s fallen back into place. Eddie’s not entirely sure when it fell _out_ of place, but things felt good. Great, even.

Even better, Bill was telling them all at lunch that his parents were out of town for the weekend, and that always meant a sleepover at Big Bill’s. He would be looking after Georgie as well though, but that had never stopped them from watching movies well into the night or sneaking some of Bill’s dad’s liquor.

“Well I’m always in,” says Stan, elbowing Bill’s side. Bill smiles back softly. “You too, Eddie?”

“Definitely, for as long as I can,” groans Eddie, already imagining how great it’ll be to leave his house for a day or two.

“Richie, h-h-how about you?” asks Bill.

“Fuck, I wish I could. I promised my uncle I’d help him at the shop tonight,” he sighs, poking idly at his wholeweat sandwich. Eddie feels a wave of disappointment wash over him.

“But, hey, we’ll be there all weekend. There’s always tomorrow, right?” says Stan.

Richie grins after a moment passes. “Yeah, Stan The Man. You guys can’t keep the Trashmouth away too long. Ain’t that right, Eddie Spaghetti?”

“Where are you getting these nicknames, oh my god,” whispers Eddie, mostly to himself.

Eddie almost counts down the minutes until the end of school. He’ll have to go home first before heading over to Bill’s place. He can only hope his mother will let him go without putting up much of a fuss.

Like clockwork the bell rings exactly on time and Eddie packs up his homework for the weekend and waits for Richie by the school’s entrance. A few people bump into him roughly as if he weren’t standing there, knocking his books to the ground, and before Eddie can snap at them Richie appears at his feet.

He gathers up Eddie’s stuff and hands it to him, eyeing off the other students as they walk away.

“They’re jerks.”

“Yeah,” says Eddie absentmindedly, not understanding why he feels unexpectedly shy from Richie’s actions.

Richie grins at him, like they’d just shared a secret. He jerks his head as he says: “I can’t ride home with you, Eds, sorry. Uncle needs my help already.” 

“Oh,” says Eddie, shuffling his books around in an effort to appear nonchalant. “Whatever, that’s fine. You go do you. Go… help. Um… bake stuff. Yeah.”

Richie frowns, but he’s still smiling. “Good pep-talk, nothing can stop me now,” he teases.

“Shut up,” says Eddie, hoping his flush isn’t noticeable.

“You’re unbelievably cute, Eds,” laughs Richie, and Eddie doesn’t even get a chance to react before Richie is riding off down the street.

 _Sneaky bastard_ , thinks Eddie, face even redder. He’ll definitely be breaking into some liquor tonight.

*

Luckily, against all odds, Eddie manages to leave his mother to herself for the night as he heads out the door. As far as she knows, it’s just going to be him, Stan and Bill. While technically true, perhaps she doesn’t need to know about Richie possibly joining them. He could save that for another day.

He leaves his bike in Bill’s shed once he gets there, and he walks into the house through the back door.

He can already hear his friends talking heatedly in the lounge room, but before he can make it in there a smaller body crashes into his side and nearly knocks him right over.

“Eddie!”

Eddie laughs, bringing his arms up to pat at Georgie’s back. “Hey Georgie. How’s my favourite Denbrough brother?”

Georgie laughs cheekily, stepping back so he can look up at Eddie. “I’m great! Are you staying over tonight because our parents are out?”

“You bet,” says Eddie, following the sounds of increasing grunts to find Bill and Stan wrestling it out on the floor, a video tape being held out of reach. Georgie sighs dramatically next to him as they watch on.

“So immature,” he drawls out, and Eddie snorts.

Eventually they manage to stop the play-fighting when Eddie gives Georgie the tape and tells him to go and hide it somewhere. No matter how many times Stan insists on it, Eddie refuses to watch Firewalker more than once in his lifetime. They all settle down, with Eddie on the recliner as Bill and Stan take up the couch. Georgie comes back and they decide on watching E.T. just to keep things family friendly for Georgie.

Georgie acts out a lot of the scenes throughout the film, mainly for Eddie, and when it comes to the infamous goodbye scene Eddie takes charge and acts out E.T.’s lines for Georgie’s benefit.

“I’ll be right–” Eddie drops his finger slowly down to Georgie’s heart. “–here.”

Georgie giggles, a small whistling sound escaping through the gap in his front teeth. Eddie smiles, and looks over to see Stan and Bill both eyeing him without shame. Bill is laughing into Stan’s shoulder, while Stan gives him a knowing look practically dripping with tease. Eddie pulls a face that perfectly equals flipping them off and returns his attention to the movie.

It’s now nearing dinner and Eddie feels his stomach grumble, obviously not satisfied with the few potato chips he had shoved in his mouth an hour earlier.

Bill’s parents always had leftovers in their fridge, only nothing was really reaching out to Eddie’s interest, and apparently not for his friends either.

“Hey,” says Bill, eyes lighting up. “I forgot – my p-parents gave me some money. We could use some to order in, m-m-maybe?”

“There aren’t that many places that deliver, though,” says Stan, popping open a can of Coke from the fridge.

Eddie has a thought, and he tries his best to act casual. “What about the pizzeria?”

“Oh, yes please, pizza!” yells Georgie, jumping about excitedly. Eddie knew he could get the kid on board.

“Sounds good to me,” shrugs Stan.

Bill goes to pick up the phone, ordering their usual pizzas plus garlic bread, because duh. He thanks them and hangs up, saying it’ll be no more than half an hour. To appease Georgie, they all let him pick another movie, and Eddie tries not to count down the minutes until their pizza was supposedly meant to arrive. Georgie ends up sitting with Eddie in the recliner, too, and Eddie becomes distracted by the time the doorbell rings and Bill gets up to pay.

When there’s another voice at the front door Eddie settles Georgie down to listen in, and soon learns his predictions were correct. He gets up and makes his way over to Bill – to help him carry the food, of course, because he’s an amazing friend like that.

“Hey, Eds!”

Richie’s voice sends an odd shiver along Eddie’s arms, and he finds himself smiling back almost instantly.

“I totally f-fuh-forgot you were the delivery boy,” Bill was saying.

“Well I didn’t even realise this was your house,” says Richie.

Eddie laughs nervously. “What a coincidence, huh?”

Bill eyes him knowingly, because nothing gets past him. “Yeah. Total coincidence.” He hands Richie the payment, plus a tip, and before Richie can hand over the pizza Georgie comes running over to inspect the hold up.

“Eddie, one of the best parts is coming up, you gotta watch it with me!” he says, tugging insistently on Eddie’s hand.

Eddie tells him he’ll be right back and watches as Georgie disappears, the kid not even caring about the presence of his dinner.

“Cute,” teases Richie, and Eddie tries to avoid his eyes. “That your brother?”

Bill nods. “He’s got a m-massive crush on Eddie. It’s adorable, really.”

“I don’t blame him,” winks Richie cheekily, and Eddie nearly has a heart attack, his body thrumming with unrelenting heat.

“Hey, when do you finish work? We’ll be going all night here, p-p-probably,” says Bill.

“Tempting offer,” nods Richie sagely. He looks back out into the street before turning back. “Maybe my uncle’ll let me off early, I’ll ask.”

“It’s fine if you can’t,” blurts Eddie, feeling the need to suddenly say something. “But, yeah… you’re more than welcome.”

Richie bites his lip through a smile, definitely holding back on a laugh. “Thanks. Well, I might see you guys later then. Enjoy those pizzas, I made them with love.”

Richie saunters away and slides back into – presumably – his uncle’s car, and throws them the peace sign as he drives off. Eddie doesn’t realize he’s staring until Bill clears his throat to indicate he’s shutting the front door. Eddie steps back quickly and hurries back to the lounge room to avoid whatever Bill was undoubtedly going to say. 

There’s a vegetarian pizza for Stan, and Eddie helps himself to the Italiano and watches as a spider-web of cheese satisfyingly follows the slice.

When the second movie finishes so does the last piece of pizza as they all offer it up to an elated Georgie. All needing a break from the screen, they head upstairs to Bill’s room and set up some music to play from his portable stereo. Eddie ends up dancing around the room with Georgie, figuring it would be the fastest way to tire the boy out and send him off to bed soon. They settle down on Bill’s bed and pull out Operation, and they all play the roles of announcers as Georgie takes his turn, hyping it up until the final piece is removed.

“I’m the bestest!” yells Georgie as he jumps in victory. “I’m gonna be a doctor when I grow up!”

“If only it were that easy,” says Stan as he packs the game away.

“Hey, Georgie, I t-think it’s time for bed, yeah?” says Bill, smiling kindly. Georgie deflates, predictably, but he’s always listened to Bill from a very young age. So they leave the room to go through the bedtime routine, and Eddie flops back on the bed with a sigh.

“Must be tough, having as many admirers as you do,” says Stan as he lies down next to him.

“Admirers?” asks Eddie, squinting over at Stan.

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” he says, and Eddie frowns harder. “Man, I definitely need a drink, though. Reckon Bill’s dad got anything good?”

“Probably,” says Eddie. “If only we lived in, like, Australia or something – we could almost legally drink already.”

“Europe as well.” Stan turns to face him, looking thoughtful. “Imagine moving there. Anywhere.”

“It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?” agrees Eddie. They fall into silence, but it’s comfortable, and together they wait for Bill to come back to give them the a-okay to finally break into the drink stash.

Bill and Stan go hard and both down a shot of Jameson each, while Eddie mixes his vodka with some pineapple juice. He nurses that while his friends move on to some cans of beer that Bill assures them he can replace before his parents come back. Eddie feels himself begin to loosen up, the burn of alcohol always feeling like the first time again. When he and Bill become momentarily distracted Stan manages to put in Firewalker and claiming they have no choice. Eddie just wonders how he found the tape.

His mind starts to become pleasantly numb as his body sinks lower into the couch, and it can’t be any later than 10 o’clock when the front door rattles again.

Eddie snaps upright, irrationally worried it’s his mother coming to scold him into his next life. Stan goes to open it, and cheers loudly when it’s merely Richie on the other side.

“Hey, guys, Trashmouth made it!” he yells out.

“Stan The Man, what’s up?” greets Richie, accepting the arm that Stan throws around his shoulders.

“The sky,” says Stan, laughing at his own joke proudly.

“Man, I’ve sure missed a lot of the fun already,” says Richie, finally coming into full view.

Bill gets up and pats his chest as he walks by. “I’ll get you a drink, buddy.”

“Actually, can I just have some water?” asks Richie, and Bill shrugs a ‘sure’.

Eddie sips at his drink again, eyeing Richie over the rim of his cup. Stan leans over to whisper something in Richie’s ear, and Eddie stares unabashedly even after Richie catches his gaze. Richie says something back and nods, gratefully taking the drink Bill hands him when he returns.

“Cheers, everyone,” says Richie, and everyone follows suit.

They switched the television back on and found themselves watching some re-runs of The Simpsons, and Richie tries his best to imitate some of the voices. As the night went on Bill becomes increasingly drunker as he drapes himself over any available surface in the lounge room. Eddie laughs a lot when he drinks, while Stan becomes more talkative. Richie plays off them all with ease, joking around and appearing content to simply observe their rowdiness. Eddie sits himself next to Richie on the couch at one point, their sides touching from shoulders to toes.

“What were you talking to Stan about?” whispers Eddie, not knowing if he was allowed to ask.

“Before?” asks Richie. “Oh, I uh… brought some pot, actually.”

Eddie feels his face morph into shock. “You guys have talked about doing _marijuana_?”

“Yeah, the week you were sick,” explains Richie. He pulls out a small, clear bag from his pocket with two rolled joints inside. “You ever tried it?”

Eddie shakes his head dramatically, subconsciously wrinkling his nose. Eddie wonders where Richie even found marijuana in Derry. Richie grins at him.

“Man, it’d be amazing to see you high, Eds,” he says. Eddie frowns as if to disagree.

“Me? Why?”

Richie stares at him hard, maybe about to answer, but then a body crashes into them after Bill rolls over the back of the couch. They all groan from the impact, but then it’s followed by Bill’s laughter and Stan gesturing to Richie’s stash.

“Can we try it now?”

“Wait, wait,” slurs Bill, and sits up so he’s sprawled across Eddie and Richie’s legs. “Can’t h-have the smell be inside. Stinks. L-let’s go to the roof.”

“No roof sitting while you’re drunk,” says Richie. “C’mon, we’ll go lie on the lawn.”

“But it’s _f-freezing_.”

“I’ll bring a blanket,” says Stan, and Bill cheers as if Stan had just invented the idea of layering up. They all step outside and it is, in fact, pretty fucking cold. Eddie had grabbed some more blankets to lie down on the grass, because even if it was cold, he was in the mood for looking up at the stars tonight.

Stan and Bill cuddle up together on Richie’s right and Eddie takes his left. Richie sits up while he pulls out a joint and his lighter, holding it close for a moment before taking the first, long drag. There’s very little breeze so the exhaled smoke lingers around them for a moment, and Eddie makes a small noise at the smell.

“Eds, you wanna try it?”

Eddie squints at Richie, contemplating. His hesitation causes Richie to add on: “It’s cool if you don’t.”

“Eddie’s asthma might act up,” tuts Stan, obviously just looking out for him. He too sits up before Richie passes along the joint.

“When have you done this before?” Eddie asks Stan, feeling out of the loop.

Stan draws in a puff, coughing once after he’s done. Bill takes it next, leaning onto Stan for support. “My cousin had some last year when he came to visit – thought it’d be cool to try it with you guys.”

Bill gives off vibes of a pro in the making, seemingly indifferent when he’s finished.

“Shit, you guys are gonna be feeling this tomorrow, what with all of the drinks you’ve had as well,” says Richie, wincing a bit. Eddie tries not to freak out too much, watching his friends closely out of concern.

“It’s cool,” Stan waves him off. “We’ve got a whole day to recover.”

Richie laughs, sounding impressed. Eddie watches everyone for a while longer, simply letting their presence relax him back down onto the blanket, and as they chatter away he busies himself by closing his eyes, letting any and all thoughts drift him away into a world of possibilities. It’s nice, comforting in a way Eddie doesn’t get to experience that often these days. He feels lucky in that moment.

Perhaps a decent amount of time had passed, because there’s a nudge at his shoulder and a worried voice near his ear.

“Eddie? Eds? You still alive down there?”

It’s Richie, and he nods back without opening his eyes. “Course I’m alive, stupid.”

“Was so worried,” says Richie, and now there’s a hand on Eddie’s cheek. “What would I do without you? Eds, c’mon, open your eyes, need to be absolutely sure you’re not dead.”

By now most of the alcohol in Eddie’s system had died down, so now it was harder to relate to another person’s illogical rambling. He complied to Richie’s request anyway, looking up at Richie with a pointed stare. Richie’s hand was really warm, though, and Eddie wasn’t sure if he wanted it gone or to stay there forever.

“Guys, _guys_ ,” calls Richie over his shoulder. “Eddie’s alive, we’re good.”

There’s a grunt and a ‘Thank God’ from Bill. Richie looks back at him, and Eddie isn’t sure what to say. Eventually, he puts on his brave pants and says: “Maybe I will try it…”

Richie blinks owlishly. “Hmm? Oh, the pot, yeah? Nice, that’s my brave Eddie Spaghetti.”

“Don’t talk about food right now, man,” groans Stan. “I’m so hungry.”

“Bill? Can I use your shower tomorrow? I don’t want my mum smelling it on me,” says Eddie, chewing his lip and wondering if this is a good idea or not.

“Sure Eddie,” says Bill.

Richie tries to help Eddie up but just ends up laughing at his own clumsiness. He pulls Eddie close, guiding him through it slowly, and Eddie instead becomes distracted by the freckles across Richie’s nose.  

“Okay, you got this,” says Richie, holding it near Eddie’s mouth. Eddie ends up placing his hand over Richie’s to keep it steady. “Take a long drag, slowly, and then hold it in for as long as you can before releasing.”

Eddie tries, not sucking in enough the first time, but managing more on the next. The sensation of it was completely lost on Eddie, and he can feel the effect of the drug warm up his lungs and chest. He becomes distracted by Richie again and holds it in too long, coughing up puffs of smoke through a scratchy throat and feeling his eyes water. Richie curses and rubs his back, and Eddie fumbles for his inhaler and takes several hits.

When he calms down he can sense multiple concerned eyes on him, and Eddie reassures his friends he’s okay.

“It’ll take a while before it really hits you,” says Richie, still very close. Eddie nods, and then shivers involuntarily.

“Ah, you cold?” asks Richie, already lying back down and opening his arms wide. “C’mere.”

“What?” asks Eddie incredulously.

“Cuddle with me,” Richie says in an exhale.

“C’mon, Eds,” Stan pipes up. Eddie looks over to see Bill already tucked comfortably into Stan’s side, like it’s no big deal. Eddie blinks rapidly, wondering when his friends became so shockingly cavalier about this kind of behavior. It makes his heart beat faster, seeing that kind of affection play out so casually between other boys, even when they’re his friends. “It’s nice. Join us.”

Richie makes another gesture with his hands, and finally Eddie lowers himself down and into Richie’s awaiting arms, telling himself it’s only because he really despises the cold. 

“Damn, you’re freezing, Eds.”

“And you’re… warm,” says Eddie, but his hazy mind poses it like a question. With his ear now pressed to Richie’s chest, Eddie can hear his own heartbeat even clearer now, and he scrunches his eyes shut and prays desperately for it to calm down. It doesn’t, especially when Richie goes to rest a hand over Eddie’s waist as his fingers rub in soothing motions. _What would ma think if she saw me?_ Eddie panics.

“You do this a lot back in your old town, Rich?” asks Stan.

Eddie feels Richie nod. “Yeah. My friends and I used to hang out behind this bowling alley and smoke a lot. The owner sometimes gave us fries in exchange for a few hits. S’cool.”

“Bet you miss ‘em,” Stan continues and reaches over to pat Richie’s chest clumsily. Bill appears to have fallen asleep, but Eddie isn’t sure.

“Yeah, I do,” says Richie, and it’s almost strange to hear Richie sound sad.

“Tell us about them,” he offers, angling his head up to give Richie an encouraging smile. Richie smiles back tentatively as his grip tightens.

“Well, let’s see…” starts Richie, “There’s Mike, who’s probably the sweetest guy I’ve ever known, and he always carries around food so he can feed any stray animal he finds in the city. I swear he’s like an angel with no wings.”

“Nice,” slurs Stan.

“And then there’s Bev, probably my favourite person ever. I’ve known her since I was three, and she’s someone I can tell everything too, and she never holds back when she thinks you deserve a scolding. I’m positive we’re soulmates.”

Eddie tenses, a question lodged in his throat he’s not even sure he wants answered. His mouth feels incredibly dry, too, which irks him.

“Soulmate? You dating her?” asks Stan, sounding scandalized. Eddie’s not sure why Stan would be upset about that.

“Hm? Haha, what? No, not dating, no,” says Richie. “She’s got a childhood sweetheart, Ben – sometimes you look at them and feel blessed that love like that can still exist, y’know? Ben’s so smart, and so good with her, I’d hurt anyone who hurts them.”

Eddie relaxes again. “They sound nice.”

“You guys can meet ‘em,” says Richie excitedly. “They’re coming up to visit in a couple weeks.”

“I almost feel unworthy,” jokes Eddie.

Richie makes a strangled sound, and using both arms he hauls Eddie up his body further, so their faces are almost in line with each other. Eddie tries to keep his calm again, gripping helplessly at the front of Richie’s shirt. Then fingers are brushing across his forehead repeatedly as Richie attempts without success to curl Eddie’s hair behind his ear. Eddie feels paralyzed as heat consumes his body once again.

“Eds, Eddie Bear,” Richie is saying, giggling uncontrollably. “They’re gonna love you. All of you guys. I couldn’t’ve asked for better friends.”

Eddie’s not sure who he’s talking about. He hopes it’s everyone.

 _Friends_ , thinks Eddie. _Us_.

“Hey, hey,” says Richie. “Stan The Man’s asleep now too. Aw, aren’t they cute?”

Eddie looks over to see Stan and Bill both passed out, limbs still tangled together. It almost looks like a private moment not meant for others to see. Richie is still laughing quietly, and Eddie shakes along with Richie’s bouncing chest. And then Richie stops, almost abruptly and looks suddenly serious.

“Eds,” he’s whispering now. “I never asked – the mixtape, did you like it? You never said…”

Eddie licks his lips, trying to find his voice. Richie sounds like a kicked puppy waiting for his owners loving reassurance.

“I… liked it. It… you really picked all of those songs because you thought I’d like them?”

Richie settles back, clearly pleased with this answer. “Oh, yeah, Eddie Bear. I like to think I got that in-intro-intolu-…”

“Intuition?” supplies Eddie.

“Yeah. That,” says Richie on a sigh. “You sure get me, Eds.”

Eddie wants to argue back, but Richie looks so peaceful now. Instead, he follows suit and relaxes back into Richie’s warmth, and can’t help but realise…

 _No. It’s you who gets_ me _._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the long wait for this chapter everyone!  
> every time I thought I was done I just kept adding more and more and now it's my longest chapter yet aha! I promise the next installment will come out much quicker, and you'll finally see the other losers! :D 
> 
> so please let me know how I'm doing, every comment u guys leave just makes my day and I love reading what you might have to say about it! thank you so much for reading!!! xxxx

**Author's Note:**

> find me on my tumblr [@edsbrak](http://edsbrak.tumblr.com) xx  
> listen to the official Lost and Found [playlist](https://8tracks.com/keisatsu/lost-and-found) :D


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